Children’s hospital CEO gears up to run 100-mile race

Even for an accomplished runner who has completed marathons and runs of even longer distances, Lucio Fragoso is taking on a race that is daunting.

Fragoso, the president and CEO of Manning Family Children’s in New Orleans, is gearing up for the Leadville Trail 100 Run in Colorado, a 100-mile race through the Rocky Mountains.

The race, which takes place Aug. 16, takes runners through forest trails and mountain roads. The high point of the race is Hope Pass, with an elevation of 12,600 feet.

Fragoso isn’t just running to challenge himself. He’s launched a fundraising effort, “100 Miles, 100 Kids,” to raise money to support care for kids at Manning Family Children’s.

He tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that he wanted to do something to honor kids who are dealing with lifelong illnesses and conditions, which he says is far more challenging than the race he’s attempting. He’s tried to complete the Leadville 100 twice before and fallen a bit short. Runners must finish in 30 hours, and competitors must reach checkpoints at certain times or they are stopped.

During a challenging training run for this year’s race, Fragoso says he realized he needed to do something that would be rewarding for others. And that led him to launch the 100 Miles, 100 Kids campaign.

“I just decided, you know what, I'm just going to take this passion of mine and it has found purpose, and I'm going to tell our kids stories,” Fragoso says. “And every mile will carry the name of one of our kids in this hospital. I will run every mile, all 200,000 steps for our kids, and share their story of strength, of resilience, of overcoming, of battling their own mountains and the inspiration that they give us.”

(See part of our conversation in this video. The story continues below.)

Fragoso takes pains to say that the kids treated at Manning Family Children’s face a much harder road.

“These kids have every reason not to continue, and yet they find a reason,” he says. “They push through the next chemo session, the next bone marrow transplant, the next surgery, the next needle stick. And, you know, their races don't come with medals or buckles. You know, they come with hospital beds and IV poles and surgeries.”

“What we learned from them is they come with an unshakable will to keep pushing forward,” he says. “And so, I just decided this is such an amazing way to tell their story in the mountains that they face each and every day, and I'm going to honor that story. And that's how this all kind of came to be.”

Fragoso is getting up at 4 a.m. each day to train. On weekends, he runs a marathon distance.

In a conversation last week, he said, “I am physically in a great spot, mentally in a great spot, so we're ready to do this. But it has definitely been a team effort, and learning how to take care of your body, recover between workouts, do strength training that's specific to mountains.”

He’s training six days a week, but he has one rest day. At age 52, Fragoso says he needs to incorporate more rest and recovery in the schedule. He’s working with a running coach, a strength coach, and physical therapists.

“I'm over 50 now, so the recovery and training has to be a lot different,” he says. “I'm not in my 20s or 30s or 40s anymore, where I could recover fast.”

Much of the race he’ll be running solo, but runners who make it to the 62-mile mark are able to use pace runners to help encourage them and give them a boost. The pacers are particularly important, since competitors are running for hours at night.

“I've got pacers that are coming out to help me, because those become super important. Because once you get into the nighttime hours, you're sleep deprived, you're delusional, you're exhausted, you're fatigued, your risk of going off course becomes incredibly high. Your risk of falling asleep while you're walking or running becomes incredibly high. So their job is to make sure you're still taking in calories, keeping you upright as you go up and over these mountains,” he says.

Fragoso says his wife, Jill, an accomplished runner, is serving as the crew chief. She recently completed a 100-mile race, the High Lonesome 100.

And Fragoso says he’s excited about the prospect of another pacer joining him for the final mile. Brian Marelo, a teen with spina bifida, is going to be his pacer for the 99th mile. Fragoso helped the teen complete his first 10K last March, and Brian has tackled other races as well.

“He's my last pacer, mile 99,” Fragoso says. “He's bringing it home.”

Other friends and families of patients are going to be making the trip out for the race.

“It's just going to be such a neat celebration of our mission and our kids and this really cool journey,” he says.

The children’s hospital, formerly known as Children’s Hospital New Orleans unveiled its new name earlier this year: Manning Family Children’s. The hospital established a partnership with the famed football family: Archie, who played for the New Orleans Saints, for years, his wife, Olivia, and their sons, Peyton, Eli, and Cooper. Peyton Manning and Eli Manning both enjoyed stellar NFL careers, with each winning two Super Bowls.

But Fragoso enjoyed a laugh when asked about holding some bragging rights over the Mannings with the Leadville 100.

“That's a good point,” he says, with a laugh. “I'm going to bring that up to them.”